Vintique

This mid-century furniture boutique on College inspires Nordic Wonder

Mid-century furniture and decor shop Vintique (with a compelling portmanteau of vintage and antique) started out small. The recently opened College Street boutique is the first brick-and-mortar shop from owners Chris Leedham and Peter Franceschini, who are partners in both business and life. In fact, Vintique got its start on Facebook Marketplace.

During the first Covid-19 lockdown in March 2020, Peter left his corporate job in retail merchandising. To fight his growing boredom, he turned to antiquing. It quickly became a favourite hobby, and soon after that, a thriving e-commerce business. Part of the push to open a physical store was the issue of storage. “I said, Peter, I can’t have these dirty chairs in my basement anymore. So, I pushed them into one room, and he ran it [Vintique] out of there—then, the business just kept growing,” recounts Chris. Vintique reached the next level once Chris joined in, who has years of experience on the sales and marketing side of high-end retail and has overseen the opening of over 400 stores, and the duo decided to invest in a physical location, which opened its doors this July. 

Open Gallery Modal

“We wanted people to experience a showroom, retail feeling,” says Chris. “On the website, you can only see the chair or the table. Who is going to buy a chair without sitting in it? I wouldn’t. And people did, but I really felt it was important to come in and see what your house could look like.

With a varied collection of original 1950s to 1970s mcm furniture sourced from around the world, including directly from Denmark and Finland, Vintique’s range is extensive. “We try to be eclectic in how we present the store,” says Chris. “So, we’re not full mid-century, that teak feeling, and we also play the modern side of it, the more contemporary side, but all still from the era.” Point in fact: a pair of one-of-a-kind metal Pan Am chairs, paired here with fur seat covers.

The store is organized into three main sections: dining, living and lounge, which are completely redone every month (windows change biweekly). Besides an appreciation for the artful simplicity of Dutch design, learning how to curate strategically has been a process. “When we opened, we really had no idea how to curate our stock. We were reactive, meaning we couldn’t anticipate the customer’s needs. We put our best foot forward, but we weren’t buying strategically for the future. It’s still early days, but now we’re buying collections.” 

Open Gallery Modal

While the learning curve may have been steep, both Peter and Chris have been more than up for the task. During the early stages of the business, Peter taught himself to refinish furniture and re-wire lights and managed all the manual labour himself. They now have a network of experts for any repairs or sourcing products that are beyond their scope, but the shop still features a restoration workshop in the basement (also a photography studio and storage space). Chris reminds us that even though their furniture looks polished, they do not deal in reproductions and take pride in giving these beloved pieces a new life and championing sustainable, second-hand shopping.